“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB
These verses are among my favorites. I have read them countless times. However, today as I was doing my morning devotional, I read this verse and it stopped me in my tracks.
Fot the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross....
What joy? The cross was a horrific, agonizing, brutal way to die. After the cross as the weight of the world’s sin fell upon Him, He staggered under the unspeakable rift He felt being forsaken from the Father with whom He had never had anything but perfect communion.
Joy?
The joy is you...me...all of us who were set free from the penalty for sin. The joy is for us, that we have been washed clean by His sacrifice, by His atoning blood. The joy is for us that we have been redeemed and reclaimed to a right relationship with God. He endured the cross for the joy of saving US.
Praise God.
